Ballroom Dancing, Weight Loss, Inspiration, Community

Knock Down Seven Times Get Up Eight

I’ve probably mentioned this Samurai saying (from the title) before. And I’ll probably use it again, too. It’s something that helps me keep going when I fall down. Well, the point of this post is simply to give a little update because my life is a freaking roller coaster emotionally sometimes.

Iwasa Katsushige [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I already put an addendum as my most recent post that I did go to the gym after I was feeling down in the mouth about my lack of progress towards becoming healthier and stronger and a better dancer and that it helped.

Well, here’s what’s happened since then (since I know that my life is like, the most exciting thing evarrrrr to hear about….)

1) I worked myself out silly! I was so sore (more-so in my upper body) that I’ve been taking ibuprofen, icing, and using heating pads on my shoulders and upper arms.

2) It’s uncomfortable to a certain extent, but I like that by body feels worked. I realized that I miss it when I don’t do this for myself. I just need to remember this when I want to hit the snooze button again or skip my evening workout.

3) Ivan came back from Ohio Star Ball. I haven’t danced with him in a week. One lesson a week is not enough! But, what are you going to do? I have to supplement our lessons with other physical activity because I miss it when it is not present. But I’m super proud of him and Marieta for being pros and getting out there and competing. I support them. I want to get myself into better shape so that I can maybe go and participate in a few more comps that they will be at instead of watching via streaming.

5) I’ve weirdly found a new confidence in my dancing. I am really at a place of believing that I am a strong dancer with some amazing potential. The biggest thing holding me back that I can see is my physical shape and lack of stamina. I’ve received some unsolicited feedback recently and also not-so-recently from people I really respect in the ballroom dancing world, that makes me feel validated as a dancer (regardless of how I am packaged currently, others can see who I am and what I am all about too) and helps me give credence to what my heart whispers but I, until recently, haven’t been able to deeply accept. Now I do.

6) I made it to Inna’s class tonight and it totally kicked my butt. It was awesome. Getting enough sleep, staying active, eating reasonably, helped me. I want to keep this healthy behavior up so I can take the best advantage of the amazing opportunity that is Inna’s Latin class. I especially enjoyed the fact that she played with the timing tonight. I found that super-fun and also love the concept of seeing the music in a dancer’s body. We did a time step with a pause – so regular timing 1 and 2, 3 and 4, then 1, hold 2, step on “and” step on 3, and then cha cha 1. It adds pizzaz. I like it a lot.

7) I’m really getting into counting. I love it. Weird! I now want to know the counts of all my movements. I’m counting in class. I remember this one time early on where Inna was counting and then suddenly went silent – I think because she is a master teacher and knew we were all relying on her. The thing is, we have to know what we are doing as dancers ourselves. When she stopped counting, a lot of us fell apart and got lost in the choreography. Now, I undertand how important it is. I love being responsible for my timing. It is empowering. I originally found it tedious, now, I am into it.

8) I’m bummed Kelly got into the DWTS final over Apollo. But, I’m glad Melissa and Shawn are in.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who has liked the Facebook page for the blog. After months of hovering at 99 likes, I suddenly jetted to 101 likes. May not seem like a big deal, but to me, it means a lot.

Alright – until I have something more substantial to share……keep dancing!